How Long Does Vicodin Stay in Your System?

How long does Vicodin stay in your system? This brand name drug contains acetaminophen and hydrocodone to relieve pain. However, it can lead to substance abuse and addiction. Understanding how long it stays in your system is important when seeking treatment.

National Impaired Driving Prevention Month

First, it’s important to remember that December was National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. This campaign reminds people about the dangers of abusing drugs, especially while driving a car. Remember that impaired driving refers not only to drunk driving but also driving after taking drugs such as Vicodin.

Of course, it’s essential to prevent impaired driving year-round. Knowing how long does Vicodin stay in your system is important before people get behind the wheel. The more knowledge that they have about this drug, the easier that it is for them to stay safe. If they can’t, then they may need a Vicodin addiction treatment program.

How Long Does Vicodin Stay in Your System After You Stop Taking It?

Each drug that people take has a half-life. The half-life is the amount of time that it takes for the potency of a drug to drop by half after being taken. This time frame varies depending on the drugs that people take and other factors. For Vicodin, the average half-life is 3.8 hours.

When people have Vicodin addiction, they start to feel withdrawal symptoms about six to 12 hours after their previous dose. These effects peak at around the 48- to 72-hour mark. While the half-life is only a few hours, drug tests can still pick up traces of Vicodin for days.

For example, Vicodin shows up in a urine test up to four days after the previous dose. Using a hair test, labs can find traces of it up to 90 days after. With that said, it can take around ten days for Vicodin to show up in a hair test.

A saliva test is one of the easiest ways to check people for Vicodin use. However, it can only find traces of the drug between 12 and 36 hours of use. After that, this test can no longer detect Vicodin.

Which Factors Determine the Duration of Vicodin in the Body?

When people determine how long does Vicodin stay in your system, they should keep a few things in mind. According to American Addiction Centers, no exact timeline fits everyone. Numerous factors affect how long the drug stays in their system after use.

For example, the larger the dose of Vicodin that people take, the longer it stays in their system. The reason is that hydrocodone builds up over time. Also, their level of hydration affects the timeline. The more water that they drink, the harder that it is to detect the drug in their urine.

People also have to consider the body mass and fat of each individual. The body stores Vicodin in fatty tissues. People who have more body fat might show signs of Vicodin use for longer than those with less body fat.

Let Us Help You Overcome Vicodin Addiction

At Destinations for Teens, we take teen drug use very seriously. In fact, we offer a Vicodin addiction treatment program for teens. Some of the services that we use include: